When it comes to protecting your home, you should go further than making sure the locks are secure and you have a good alarm system. Home insurance is a way of protecting your home from uncertain occurrences and to make sure there are enough fund to cover unexpected accidents or other problems that may arise in your home.
“Home insurance may seem a like a monthly cost you could do without, but as most home owners will attest to, unfortunately there are times when things go wrong and you need some financial support from your insurance company,” said Battersea estate agent, Eden Harper.
Insurance for different occupancy choices
Insurance is as important for you whether you’re a home owner, a BTL investor or a tenant. And, there are different policies for each situation to ensure you’re only paying to cover what you should be.
What needs to be covered by the occupant and/or owner depends on whether or not you live there, own the property or both:
- Home owner-occupiers’ insurance needs to cover the building and the contents because they are responsible for every part of the property.
- Property investors/BTL landlords need insurance that covers the building and grounds and possibly some of the contents, but not all of them.
- Tenants need insurance to cover their own content and nothing more.
Making sure you have the right insurance policy for your situation can help ensure you’re only paying as much as you need to each month, which should help minimise your premium.
“Paying a monthly insurance premium that covers only what you need it to should help keep your monthly housing-related costs as low as possible,” said Reigate estate agent, Robert Leech. “It will also mean that any claims you make should be straight forward as your policy exactly reflects the property and your situation with regards to living there.”
Not just for your peace of mind
While a home insurance policy is there to give you assistance when unexpected problems occur with your home, its not just for your peace of mind. In many cases, mortgage offers come with conditions, one if which can be that you have the right home insurance in place.
The reason? Just as home insurance helps you to protect your home, an insurance policy helps protect the asset your lender is invested in. If a major accident affects your property, that means the value of the property could be negatively impacted. If the value of your property is drastically lowered, then they may not be able to recoup the entire value of the mortgage they agreed to.
By having home insurance, you should be able to make any repairs to your home that are needed which should help it keep its value so that when the time comes to sell, your mortgage lender can be sure of receiving back the entire amount of the mortgage you still owe them.
“Without home insurance you could be in danger of invalidating your mortgage and also leaving yourself homeless, should the worst happen and that’s not a position anybody would wish to be in,” said Andrew Reeves. “Although it might seem like a monthly cost you could do without, you should consider that your home is your biggest asset and as such it needs protecting financially as well as physically.”